The Place That Time Forgot

There is a little place in the southwest corner of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania that time forgot. I can thank my dear friend and fellow author, Connie Pombo, for telling me about Mt. Gretna. (Connie did a wonderful write-up about it called "Summer's End". Click here to link to her blog.)


Our family recently enjoyed a short escape to my grandparents' cabin in north Lebanon County. Little did we know that just a 30-minute drive from the cabin would yield such a delightful little grove tucked away in the hills of Pennsylvania.


We met my friend Connie and her husband Mark at an old fashion ice cream parlor built in 1895 called the Jigger Shop. Local legend has it that the Jigger Shop got its unique name in the early 1900's when two sisters concocted a new ice-cream sundae that became so popular that people simply ordered one of those "Jiggers" - jigger in that era meaning "thing". We enjoyed lunch complete with frosted mugs of root and birch-beer soda. Later that evening my family returned to try out one of the famous Jigger Sundaes. YUM!!! A special jigger is blend of finely crushed chocolate and nuts, plunged into an ice cream sundae of your flavor, finally topped with homemade fluffy marshmallow and chocolate sauce.



That afternoon my family spent time at Mt. Gretna Lake. As I viewed the quaint beach area with red and white striped umbrellas, I felt like I had stepped back into time. In the middle of the lake there was a twenty-foot tower and a huge metal swing with a trapeze-like bar to grab onto and splash into the cold lake water.


My husband and sons were brave enough to jump off the towering twenty-foot platform. Even my little six-year-old son jumped off without hesitation.


I decided that the swing was a safer option for me. And yet when our family stood on the wooden platform waiting for our turn to grab the metal bar, I noticed something. My husband and I were the only people over twenty-years old going to jump into the middle of the lake from this swing!


Just for the record, I jumped from this swing a total of five times. This aging body could have easily stopped after number three, but I wanted to get a picture to prove it to you all that I really did jump from that swing!

I look forward to visiting Mt. Gretna Lake again and bringing my parents, my sisters and brother and their children next summer. This may be a place that time forgot, but it is a place that our family will never forget. Thanks again Connie!

And I thank God for the health and the strength to enjoy special times together with family and friends! Praise be to Him!

Live the adventure,
Susan

Green Girl

I've noticed something lately... my new favorite color is green.

At night I sleep under a green bedspread.

As the sun peeks over the horizon,

I slip out of bed and wrap myself in a green robe.

If you peeked in my linen closet,

you would discover a shelf stacked with

green bath towels.

You might even say I've turned a bit green...

But not with envy.

I like to shop for organic veggies and fruits.

And our family tries to faithfully recycle

those plastic bottles.

But the best green I know is the green pastures that my Lord supplies. It's there I find rest for my soul. Yes, even though life is an adventure, God knows we need times of rest. He promises to richly supply all we need.

I'm a green girl and I want to rest in the pastures of God's Word. How about you?

Thank you Jesus for making me lie down in green pastures. You are my God and Savior and I love you! In Your eternal promises, I find rest.

Live the adventure,

Susan

"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name sake." Psalm 23:1-3

Summer Camp

Join me on a short journey to Camp of the Woods in New York's Adirondack mountains...

Our cabin for the week: Bayshore C

A not too happy camper...

at least when it comes to having his picture taken!
(Click on the picture to enlarge and get a load of those "eyes"!)

Well, I guess it's not so bad if your picture is with your brother.
These are my sons: Jared (16) on the left and Joel (6) on the right.


Everyone loves to climb this tree!

Having fun jumping rock to rock.

Just like Daddy did when he was kid.

A little glimpse of our overnight backpacking trip at

Pillsbury Mountain Lake.

On the way to the family dining hall.

One of the highlights of the trip for the kids is helping to ring the dining hall bell. The bell echos throughout the campgrounds beckoning hungry campers to dinner.

The family dining hall.

Two lovebirds off to Melody Lodge for

a romantic mountaintop dinner.

That's my hubby Jim on the left and me on the right.

We enjoyed our little get-away for the evening.

Yes, even in the rustic mountains there is something for the gourmet palate.

A bayside view of the lake from our cabin porch.

Jared tubing on the lake!

I was told this was NOT a sandcastle by Joel.

But my hubby and son entered it into the family sandcastle building contest. It is the Great Sagandaga River, a local river in New York where we kayak.

Lake Pleasant by day and by night...

Getting ready to go... Joel is playing rock, paper, sissors,

with his cousin Carolyn.

Jared saying goodbye to some of his camp friends.

A final farewell to the mountains of New York on our ride home to Pennsylvania.

That Elusive Good Thing

Have you ever wondered, "What good has come out of this difficult situation in my life?"

I have. I'm one of those type of personalities that likes to know up front what is going on - you know, how it all fits together and why. Through the years, God's been teaching me this lesson: We may not understand why a particular life changing event happens, but we can trust God in it.

Even so, as human beings we can't help but wonder where's the good that God promises? Many of you may be familiar with the Bible verse found in Romans chapter eight. You know the one that promises that all things work out for good. Let's take a look at it together.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 NKJV

Often people stop after the word good. But what does the rest of the verse say? It says to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

People who don't love God; people who are not called according to His purpose will never realize that what God is doing in their life is for their good. This is a lesson God drove home to me after my first husband unexpectantly died at the age of twenty-eight.

But still, what is that good thing that God is doing? I, like many of you, often look for tangible results. I think of the life of Joseph in the Bible. It made sense to Joseph in the end - all the trouble that he went through - all the evil that happened to him was to save his family and many others beyond. On a deeper level, the line of Christ was preserved through his rascal of a brother named Judah.

But what about your life? What about my life? What work is God doing?

After speaking at a woman's event recently, a woman asked me what good God had done in my life from my personal tragedy. This is bascially what I told her. "We can't always see this side of Heaven what God is doing. But as we get to know Him, we can trust God because God is good and what He does in our lives is good. I know one thing for sure about my life, if that tragedy didn't happen, I wouldn't be here at this event sharing the Gospel of the grace of God."

I still believe that God has specific purposes that intertwine in His great plan for the human race, but God opened my eyes to a new fact about what is good - a specific fact from His Word while on our family vacation at Camp of the Woods. It simplifies matters for me. From now on, I'll leave the specifics to God.

You all know how important it is to read Scripture in context, right? Well, the pastor speaking that week just happened to mention what "good" God is doing in our lives and it is found in the very next verse after verse twenty-eight.

"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren." Romans 8:29 NKJV

Did you catch it? We are to be conformed to the image of His Son. In layman's terms: We are to become more like Jesus. This can only happen if we first know Jesus as our personal Savior. After that happens, we are to be conformed to Christ's image. There is no good work that we can do to come to God. Only through Christ are we made whole and then the process of refining begins.

So what is the good that God wants to happen in our lives as we trust Him through difficulties? That we (those who have trusted Jesus as their personal Savior) would become more like Jesus.

I'll share more on why that is important soon. In the meantime, think about what it means to be more like Jesus. I know I have a way to go - a long, long way. I fall so short of the glory of God. Praise God for His mercy and grace. I'd be lost without it.

Live the adventure,
Susan

A Vacation with a Purpose

I sank into the chair on our cabin porch and watched the branches of the stately pines sway in the breeze. The lake water gently lapped against the boulders along the shoreline. A sailboat slipped across bay-shore cove, its white sail billowing in the wind.

I didn’t want to leave this little bit of paradise in the mountains, but I knew that our family vacation would soon end. But the beauty and the grandeur of Adirondack Park and Camp of the Woods would stay etched in my mind and the minds of my husband and two sons.

From left to right: Lois (Jim's mom), Joel (6), Jared (16), Me, and Jim COTW 2008

We just returned from our family vacation at Camp of the Woods. The camp’s motto is “Vacation with a Purpose”. For over 100 years, this Christian family camp has been fulfilling its purpose. It is a time for families to relax and enjoy the beauty of God’s world and grow closer to Him through the majesty of His Word. I can think of no better way to spend time.

From kayaking across the rippling lake and down the winding waterways of Cherry Creek to watching the sun slip behind the mountain range like a blazing orange ball, our trip was a combination of leisure time with each other and chapel time with a speaker who taught us God’s Word.

I look forward to sharing with you something that touched my life this week from a familiar passage in the book of Romans. It’s easy for us to become accustomed to certain verses in the Bible, but like a cool mountain breeze, it is refreshing to see how the Holy Spirit can give us a deeper understanding of His Word.

Until then, may you like Luke says in chapter nine, verse forty-three, be amazed “at the majesty of God.”

Live the adventure,
Susan